Before seeking free legal advice, we advise you to read this article. Perhaps it will help you in communicating with consultants, and probably also save you from erroneous steps.
When looking for a company that provides legal services, the Internet will give you many offers of free legal advice. Similar information can also be found in newspapers, on poles, billboards, on flyers that are distributed in crowded places.
The offer seems to be tempting. But before calling these numbers, you should think about what motivates such lawyers? After all, they will waste time, use their knowledge and experience accumulated over the years, without claiming to earn money. What motives drive lawyers who promise to help, allegedly for free?
Really free legal advice or who does not fall under our analysis
It should be said right away that this article does not consider the possibility of providing free services for business, for example, legal advice for business, this is nonsense. Here we will only talk about free legal aid for citizens (individuals).
Also, here we will not touch on public organizations, volunteer lawyers, state authorities.
The first, as a rule, are non-profit organizations. The work of their lawyers is paid for by grants and charitable contributions. But in this case, we can rather talk about assistance in criminal law, in situations with a gross violation of the rights of citizens, etc. It is unlikely that such lawyers will deal with divorce proceedings, corporate conflicts, real estate registration, etc.
The second – work on enthusiasm. They can help people of certain categories free of charge (displaced persons, ATO participants, victims of the Revolution of Dignity, Automaidan activists, etc.). And it is also worth remembering that such lawyers are mainly engaged in resolving typical and simple situations.
State bodies are obliged to consult citizens on relevant issues free of charge. But here lawyers are not financially motivated (low salaries), often they are not sufficiently qualified specialists, or they are biased (they interpret the norms of laws in favor of their department). It is hardly appropriate to go, for example, to the state fiscal service for advice on tax optimization.
Declared and true motives for free consultations
But the aforementioned entities do not place ads in newspapers, do not distribute flyers near the subway, do not buy advertising on the Internet. In the global network you will receive offers of free legal services from commercial companies. The main purpose of which is to make money. And it is these motives that they are guided by, offering to consult citizens for free. It would seem a paradox. However, no. Just in a similar way yur. companies lure customers.
Free consultationUsually, such firms, when asked why they need it, name other motives. They claim that free consultations allow the client to be convinced of the professionalism of lawyers. But how can one be convinced of the professionalism, and not just the eloquence of an employee, if the client asks for help precisely because he himself is not a specialist in this field?
They talk about the natural desire of a lawyer to share his knowledge with people. However, a professional lawyer already shares knowledge, only with payment. After all, he also needs to feed his family, like a doctor, teacher, builder, who do not work for nothing. This also applies to cases when free consultations are explained by the need for constant application of knowledge in practice.
In fact, the main goal here is to “process” a potential client so that he pays for additional services in the future. The system is simple. Under the guise of a free consultation, the client is generally explained that his problem exists and requires additional paid services. It is not so much the legal skills of the employee that play a role here, but psychology. At the same time, in order to convince the client, intimidation (inflating the problem) is sometimes used. They make sure that the problem is serious, it needs to be solved urgently. A fabulous amount of payment for additional services may immediately be announced, but a discount will be offered immediately. Other marketing gimmicks may also be used.
Legal advice online for free – do not rely on quality!
A reasonable question arises – but you can get answers to your questions for free, and refuse further paid services? Or take advantage of a free online legal consultation. The answer is that you are unlikely to be satisfied with the quality. You will receive brief, general answers, without considering the specifics of your situation.
Moreover, as a non-specialist in jurisprudence, you are unlikely to be able to assess the relevance and completeness of the information received. After all, even a very qualified lawyer will not give momentary exhaustive answers to all questions. It takes time to study the situation (it is necessary to familiarize yourself with the documents, analyze the relevant legislation, the practice of its application).